For those of you following the permacultural goings on at Gorge View garden you will know that our organically worked veggie plot is hard work, an ongoing slug war and needing constant attention through spring and summer. This year, with the long hot dry spell (aka "summer") the challenge has also been to make the rain harvested water last.

Mary of course deserves the credit with most spare moments (and they are precious) out in the garden, often doing slug patrol as the light is almost gone.There is, of course, an up side. All through the year, but particularly around now, lots of the fruits of our (OK, Mary's) labours being harvested. Good lot of (relatively slug free) potatoes, tomatoes in quantity, still salad leaves, beans, garlic, onions, brussel sprouts just starting, even raspberry's for pud. Perhaps most eyecatching, the "charismatic flora" so-to-speak, are the pumpkins. We've got five or six big ones and a number of smaller ones ripening. They will last and see us through a lot of the winter.

Of course all this good veg needs storing: a lot of the root veg in dark, dry cool conditions. We don;t have anywhere perfect and so he idea is bubbling up on how we might build a root cellar. As we have grand dreams of one day building a small cob house, this might be the ideal learning vehicle on how to mash mud and straw to good effect. Dream on eh?